SPN 2x03: Bloodlust
... or, When Gunn Met Dean
When Kripke Ripped off Angel
When Amber Benson Played A Vampire
When Kripke Met Jossverse
Okay, after one viewing... I enjoyed it, I really did, but um. Well, the thing is, when you do an episode about ambiguously evil! vampires, and then you cast Amber Benson in it, you have to be aware that people are going to be thinking about Buffy, and they're going to be thinking about Angel, and if they're thinking about those shows they're probably thinking about how those shows covered all this ground, already, half a dozen times; and did it better, too, or at least more thoroughly (they did have 12 seasons to work in.) And, by the way, those people are also going to be thinking about Gunn, and seriously, has Kripke (or whoever wrote this episode) just not seen any Angel? Or not seen that episode, or something? 'Cause I gotta say that would be a fatal flaw. You know who that reminds me of? David Eddings, who's proud to admit that he doesn't read any fantasy. And you know what that leads to? Eddings fails to realise that his work is unoriginal rubbish being reproduced half a dozen times - in fact, he reproduces himself. The story wasn't that original the first time he wrote it and it was definitely losing its lustre after the fifth time.
But I'm not here to bitch about Eddings. I'm really not here to bitch at all, because as I say I did enjoy the ep. I'm just sayin', it would be nice to see ambiguities about things that aren't as pretty and, well, sexy as vampires. Not just because it's not original, but because it's easy - it's really easy to convince an audience that Amber Benson isn't evil. It's not so easy to convince them that something that looks like the wendigo, maybe, isn't evil, and while it was nice that Dean acknowledges that at the end it would have been cool to see it. But never mind. (This isn't really a specific crit of SPN because every genre TV show does this to some extent, even Buffy and Angel - I mean, they had people who looked a bit demon-y on the edges, sure, but.)
I can't be the only one, though, who after Gordon said "he was my first kill" and Dean said "I'm sorry about your sister" was completely expecting him to say "she was my second kill." I mean, maybe the show thought that would be surprising, but it wasn't, and um. Sorry but Gunn just did it better. [Hah, I was just reading at spn_live, and someone really nailed it with "Joss Whedon, it's 9:00. Do you know where Charles Gunn is?"]
ANYWAY OMG METALLICAR IS ALIVE! OMG OMG and I actually kind of liked that they re-used Back in Black because it was such a great moment for it. And seriously, all that dialogue from Sam about Dean needing a moment alone and... heh.
I have to say I really liked the way Dean looked at Gordon after he admitted that he killed his sister - Dean just did the straight up "You did what?" Because no matter how he was raised he would never, ever hurt Sammy.
And speaking of Sammy, "Only he gets to call me that." Heeee.
It was cool to learn the details about how old Dean was when he started hunting, and the whole Sam sitting in the car thing - shades of a thousand fanfics! But in the good way.
The angst/introspection in this episode... okay, kind of hammery, but I was fairly impressed with Jensen who made a good fist of some lines that could have been atrocious.
I loved Dean hitting Sam. I, uh, I kind of have a kink.
And speaking of kinks, there were several moments in this episode where the camera sort of travelled lovingly over Dean, and once or twice Sam, and it was just so clear that, hey, we know you're mostly women, we know why you're watching this show, hey! Check this out! I sort of wonder if this is what it feels like to be a man watching mainstream TV except... while, you know, I enjoy the eyecandy, I really get kind of thrown off by these moments, so hey. But, dude, they were so pretty. Jensen's gotten a lot prettier this season, although IMO Jared could stand to lose a little weight from his face. (*ducks* sorry, sorry, personal taste. He can keep up the Enormous Shoulders that Block Out the Sun, though, those are quite nice.)
I loved the way Gordon was all "Winchesters? OMG!" *pets Kripke* We know you love your boys, oh yes.
Kind of disappointed that Sam got jumped AGAIN. It would be nice to see him demonstrating that he, too, was born to this life, you know? Because I felt the way Gordon kept trying to divide them was, well, obviously it was dumb but it was also kind of wrong. Although maybe last season Sam wasn't always as committed as he could have been, he was always competent, and so he should be. He should be just as good as Dean now that he's completely committed.
Although then we got that great moment with the map. That was damn cool.
Question: if hunters drive everywhere, and live hand to mouth, where do they...
- get $100 bills? Who really has $100 bills anyway? (I think that was a $100...) Strike that, I just checked, it was a $50. Okay then. (Y'all should colour your money already, it makes this kind of thing way easier...)
- get the money for classic cars? Dean inherited it, that makes sense, but no such reason for Gordon.
- way more importantly, get the money to fuel classic cars? Oh, realism.
All I can think of right now. *rewatches a bit* And just to be clear, I liked this episode, it's just tough not to compare it and find it wanting. Sigh.